So the fantastic 'Batman Beyond' has finally
made it to terrestrial TV
here in blighty. But why, oh why, the title
change to 'Batman Of The
Future'? Surely Warners would be keen
to cross-promote this one
from the States to the UK, especially
with there still being mutterings
about a Batman Beyond live-action movie?
- Apparently, there was
even talk about calling it Batman 2000
over here!

What with the patchy release of Batman
Animated on vid. it really
does smell like those calling the
shots don't know what they've got.
Warners should put the toons on DVD
in series order. Make it mail order
only, if you have to boys. Okay, so
you probably won't make mega bucks
from the release, but you will turn
a profit. Hell, if Farscape and The Flumps
can do it, why can't Batman?
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Okay, I'm on a roll now. Can someone
please tell me what the deal is with
the BBC and 'The Simpsons'. They seem
to be repeating the same
episodes over and over again. What
gives? When are going to see some
newer material? - We don't all have Sky,
you know!

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Okay, the final grip here: What's happenned
to 'South Park' series II on
R2 DVD? It was listed as a Nov/Dec release
last year, but it never appeared.
So what's happenned? Was it put back out
of respect for Mary Kay Bergman?
Oh well, at least we've got 'Bigger, Longer and
Uncut' to keep us going...

8/4/00 - stop press!
Series II should be hitting the shops as
I speak - Hurrah!

Still with SP, here's a little something to cheer
you up: Terrific 3D South Park
images from sweeet.com - some fabbo pics,
including the three here, plus
Chef as Blade, Cartman as Jabba The Hutt and
loads more!http://www.sweeet.com

It's a triple dose of South Park this time, cos
the first of Parker & Stone's
39 cartoon shorts have been delivered to shockwave.com,
and word from
Variety is they're not happy: Apparently the
old boys are too rude, but the
terms of the deal won't let the shocking fellows
edit them down.

Marketing ploy or genuine concern? - You can
check out 'Brown Noise',
'Cartman For The Prosecution' and numerous
others at:http://www.shockwave.com

Personally speaking, they're about what
you'd expect: lewd and crude and
very funny. They load quick too, once you've
got the software installed.
Which means I'm even keener than ever to
view Tim Burton's short films
when they go online at shockwave later this
year. Press reports say he's
animating material from his book 'The Melancholy
Death Of Oyster Boy'
- can anyone confirm this?

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The Sinbad animated feature with Brendan
Fraser - Where is it? - When's
the release date for this motion-capture
movie? - It seems to have quietly
slipped off the release schedules. Is it
going straight to vid? - If so, when?
Hell, even staytooned.com don't seem to
know. But they've got some big pix:http:www.staytooned.com

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Courtesy of the boys and girls at IGN FilmForce,
here's a toy fair report with
piccies of the forthcoming 'Chicken Run' figures
from Playmates. Top stuff, eh?
Just be patient whilst it loads:http://filmforce.ign.com/features/3.html

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For the serious collector, plasticene God Mr
Nick Park is putting in a special
appearance at London's Animation Art Gallery
this May where he'll be promoting
a new line-up of gallery collectibles. The original
'Wallace & Gromit' maquette
is still available, but shifting fast -
check it out at:http://www.animaart.com

Looks like being Mr Park's year, what with 'Chicken
Run' almost upon us,
a new W&G 10min short in prodction and
a confirmed W&G movie in the offing....

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Presenting a mouth-watering entree of toon collectibles
which I really,
really must have...

'Iron Giant' poster
A beautiful limited edition framed one-sheet
featuring the original poster art
that Warners rejected. I've done a swift
gallery check, but it looks like it's all
sold-out now. If you can find it, it'll
set you back between £150 - £200. I'm
desperate for one of these so ple-e-e-ase mail
me if you find one available!

'Bender' from Rocket
USA
Coming soon - this fabbo 8.5" robot 'Bender'
from 'Futurama', complete with cigar
and a bottle of Olde Fortran Malt Liquor.
The new range also features a 'Nibbler'
robot and some brilliant tin signs. Place your
orders now! - 'Bender' is $24.95http://www.rocketusa.com

'Wallace & Gromit' chess
set
Got just shy of £300 to spend? - Then grab
one of these amazing chess sets:
Eh-up, the board's a piece of jammy toast! And
our heroes are mounted on crackers!http://www.completelybonkers.com

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The search goes on for those elusive links:

Anyone found a 'Noah and
Nelly' homepage yet?
And how about 'Alias
The Jester'?
And this here gem: a 'Cloppa
Castle' site?